When your daughter calls and asks if you want to go hiking in Patagonia, the answer is simply “Hell Yes!”
The two of us, father and daughter, backpacked the W Trek Circuit in Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile in late March.
It was absolutely stunning, a truly epic trip and I don't use the word "epic" lightly. Check out the photos and videos below to see what I mean. It was my first time in the Southern Hemisphere and in South America. Best of all, it was quality father/daughter time well spent at the (almost) bottom of the world.
The Logistics
We convened at Atlanta's Hartsfield Int'l Airport fresh off quick flights from our respective cities, then flew together on a Delta Airlines direct flight to Santiago, Chile. From there, we took a SKY Airlines flight to Puerto Natales in Patagonia, Chile (via quick stop in Puerto Montt). We booked each of those flights directly with each airline, which was cheaper than booking a bundled roundtrip from one airline or travel booking site.
We used a local company, Hello Patagonia, to help us with the route, park passes, booking the refugios (large cabin style hostels where we stayed each night in shared bunk rooms with hot showers, food, & drinks - tent camping is also available), daily bag lunches, booking the kayaking, and private transportation to and from the park. We were originally looking at Swoop-Patagonia to help us with all this but they were booked for the timeframe we were looking at, so they recommended Hello Patagonia and we're glad they did.
Hello Patagonia did an outstanding job with the itinerary, all the extras, and helping us understand what to bring and what to expect. We highly recommend them. It was well worth the money compared to us having to book and plan all these details ourselves (which is possible but tricky navigating all the different refugio bookings, etc). They can also help you tack on some extras like boat rides, glacier hiking, kayaking, etc and give recommendations for other things to do in the area. The private transportation to and from the park was key...so nice compared to riding in a big shared bus with other people.
For the flights, my daughter and I carried on our luggage in our backpacks (hers is 39 liter backpack, mine is 45 liter backpack) and a small personal bag each. We did this to minimize risk of lost luggage in route since we had 2 layovers & 1 stopover. Due to this, we couldn't carry on our trekking poles, so we rented them from Hello Patagonia, another nice perk in using them. Yes, you will definitely want to use trekking poles on the W Trek unless you have bionic knees.
Puerto Natales is a 2 hour drive from Torres del Paine National Park and was our home base before and after our 5 day W Trek adventure. It's a nice small town along the water with plenty to do including good restaurants, bars, and shops. We left our small personal bags at our Puerto Natales hotel, packed with the stuff we didn't need on the trail.
Spanish is the spoken language. Some people knew English, some didn't. It's definitely helpful to at least know some basic Spanish words and phrases. My daughter was much better than this than I was and acted as our translator. Chilean pesos are the local currency. Most places accepted credit cards (always charge in the local currency) but there are times when cash was handy especially when a credit card machine wasn't working or not available, which did happen a couple times.
We were gone a total of 10 days, including the travel days. You can easily extend this trip to include a lot more. We met people there who were on extended trips that included Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, etc. We also met some couples who had quit their jobs to travel for a year.
The Trek
The map below illustrates why it's called the "W". It was 5 days, 4 nights. We did this route east to west, which was good for several reasons. First, the toughest day was first, to and from Torres base (base of the towers). It was the longest distance and most elevation gain of the 5 days. It was good to get that out of the way plus the towers are an amazing sight to behold. Second, you seem to get better views in front of you hiking from east to west. Third, the last day was the easiest and allowed for more time to do some kayaking either that morning or the afternoon of Day 4.
There is also the "O" Trek which is the W Trek plus a loop that wraps around north of the W route. It's typically done in 8-10 days. We met people along the trail that were doing the "O". They had to navigate some snow (which can also occur on the W by the way).
Yes, we were sore after the first day but I would have been sore anyway even if we had done an easier first day. It's amazing how the body adapts and is capable of doing more than you think it can. Or maybe that was the Advil. Definitely the Advil. And the trekking poles. Thank God for trekking poles!
Different sources say the W Trek is 45 miles total but according to my GPS watch, we ended up doing just over 60 miles due to all the extra extended hiking to more views along the way. We ascended a total 15,100 ft in elevation gain over those 5 days. For some of the W Trek Circuit, we were able to drop our packs at campsites or refugios and hike out and backs without the extra weight. Some of the days on the trail were 10 hours+ but that also included stopping to gawk at all the beautiful scenery around us, plus lunch breaks.
My trusty and well worn hiking shoes that I've had for over 10 years finally met their match and have finally started to come apart due to the beating they took there.
Except the last day, we lucked out on the weather. It's extremely unpredictable and always changing in Patagonia (layers!). The first 4 days, we had relatively calm winds, partly sunny skies, a little bit of rain here and there, and perfect hiking temps in the 50s. Our last day, we got to experience the real Patagonia weather with winds 40-50mph+ with intermittent rain. There was more rain and snow the week before we were there, and the week after.
We met many friendly people and heard many different languages from all over the world. As an example of the diversity of people on the trail, our refugio bunkmates the 1st night were from Brazil and Germany. I only had 1 hour of internet the entire 5 days on the trail which was so refreshing (you can purchase internet time at WiFi kiosks at each of the refugios, there is limited to no cellular signal on the trail).
Breaking Down Each Day
Puerto Natales
13.25 miles, 4,210 ft elevation gain
Featured: Viewpoint and Base of the Towers
10.9 miles, 2,150 ft elevation gain
Featured: Lago Nordenskjold, Los Cuernos (the Horns)
14.1 miles, 3,200 ft elevation gain
Featured: Frances Valley, Británico Viewpoint, Los Cuernos, Cerro Paine Grande
Featured: Lago Grey, Glacier Grey
My daughter and I had such an amazing time together. I'm beyond grateful for the experience and the time we had together in one of the most stunning places in the world. It was an outstanding multi-day backpacking adventure that I would highly recommend not to miss if you get the chance to go.
